Gokusen

I don’t think I ever found an anime that, after watching it, made me want to read the manga as badly as the Anime of Gokusen did. That is why I am writing this review slightly along side my review of the anime. I do have to say this though, I feel the manga was actually a little bit better then the anime, and I think it’s because we got to connect more with the characters, especially the students.

A lot of what I have to write about the characters has been said in my Anime review but for those that don’t want to read that, I guess I will summarize it here a bit. We first should talk about our main character Kumiko. The whole manga is based around how the two sides of her life clash together. When I talk about two sides, I am talking about the well mannered school teacher side of her life, and the fact that she is heir to a Yakuza group. I did not talk about this much in my anime review as it was not really that big a thing, but Yankumi (as the student’s called her) lost her parents at a very young age and was sent to live with her Grandfather who is also the head of a Yakuza group with very strong ties to a lot of other branches. Because of this, she has a very strong moral code to both Family and the Yakuza life style, something that she tries and ‘fails’ to hide in her passion of being a school teacher. She ended up being hired to work at Shirokin which is an all boys High School where basically the ‘Delinquents’ are put. Surprisingly, her Yakuza life style is like the perfect match for the school.

The second main character I would like to bring up is Shin Sawada. Without going into much spoiler for one of the arcs, the most I could say about his family life is complicated. Because of this, he lives mostly on his own and is a very well put together kid; a lot more mature then his other classmates. Just as with the anime, he finds out Kumiko’s secret very early on and ends up with this odd obsession with it, butting into a lot of her business. It was very odd reading the manga because at first, Yankumi was very against him getting involved with anything dangerous but then slowly he became someone she could sort lean on and talk things out with. She seemed to end up sort of relying that he would always be there for her, and that sort of feeling seemed to rub off on him at some point.

I can’t talk a lot about the students as most of it is spoilers for the situations they get into, but I can say that there is one main group that stood out among the rest. That would be Shin’s strange band of friends, Minami, Uchi, Kuma, and Noda. Kuma stands out a bit more as being sort of Shin’s side kick but the others end up getting their own arcs and their own sort of identity making them very relatable. I wish the same could be said for the Yakuza members but sadly, I can’t remember any of them off the top of my head except her Grandfather, her two ‘brothers’, and the second in command. The others are a bit harder for me to pin point in that I remember the stories, but the first moment I see them, I forget who they are. (And then there are some I just choose to forget because I just didn’t like the character to begin with.)

And now I do have to bring up her dog, Fuji. Where I fell in love with him in the anime, I sadly did not get much with him in the manga. It was half way through the books when Fuji actually started acting like how he acted in the anime but it was only when he and Shin were alone and in the bonus chapters. Every other time, he was just a normal dog doing normal things. It made me a little sad that he just ended up being this strange side character that felt like he was put in for those who liked him in the anime.

The manga is a lot more… mature then the anime. There are many more adult themes put into the story line with talks of Rape, prostitution and under age drinking. The nice thing is that it is not put in there for shock value. It just showed that school life isn’t really as beautiful as people try to make it out to be. Although this is not in any way a ‘slice of life’ type of manga like Azumanga Daioh (Yes, I know Azumanga is a girls show and this is a men’s show), it does show a slice of life that we do not glorify. That’s one reason why I consider this much like GTO, where they will show problems in broken homes and then a teacher will come in to try and fix it. It actually made me laugh a little that of all the families that are shown in the manga, Yankumi’s seemed more perfect out of them all and it was a family built around being Yakuza.

The animation style is pretty simple for the most part, although the titles to the chapters and the odd page out would be very well shaded. I do love the artwork even if the designs are strange. Again, we have the really odd delinquent style designs for all the characters, pretty much dating the manga. When I say dating, I don’t mean of when the show came out. I do feel that I have to explain a little bit more as I never quite got into it with my anime review. In a lot of older anime and manga, there is a stereotype style that has been around for the delinquents and bullies. Most of the time, its large hair, thick gangster accent, and the school outfit worn slightly out of code or something. It has been that way even in the 90s and though that design has been reworked and made to fit a more nutrual style in most newer manga, this feels as though it is giving tribute to the old designs. When you look at it that way, the manga does very well in keeping that feeling alive even if it was written rather new in comparison.

Unlike the anime, I was able to sit for longer reading the manga without the cheesy dialog being voiced. I don’t really understand why as the dialog was still cheesy and designed like an old school manga and yet I kept on turning the page. I think it might be the fact it wasn’t being voiced that made it less embarrassing to read. Whatever the case, although I liked both the anime and manga, the manga feels like it explains a lot better and makes you feel more connected to the characters. There are a bunch of live action movies and TV shows but I do doubt that I will be getting to those any time soon.

Gokusen is one of those series that I can best describe as "cozy". It's a relatively low-stakes series where even when the going gets rough, you know that at the end of the day things will work out and the status quo will be restored. Series like this hinge on their characters' charm and chemistry to keep them afloat, especially if they run on the longer side. Thankfully for Gokusen, the characters are easily the best part.

Yamaguchi Kumiko makes for a fun and likeable central protagonist who has an infectiously hot-blooded spirit that never fails to make you root for whatever cause she's fighting for. And fight she will, as a large chunk of this series is watching Kumiko kick people's asses for messing with her students, which never fails to be entertaining.

You also have Sawada Shin, the teen-male side-kick to Kumiko who takes up one of the slots in this series' slow-burning love triangle. He definitely falls in the "pretty boy with a bad attitude" category of male love-interests, but he's got a fun personality that gradually starts to shine more often as the series progresses. He has great chemistry with Kumiko, and it was enjoyable to watch him develop over the course of the story.

To touch on the rest of the cast would take ages as there are quite a few characters featured in this series. For the most part it gives plenty of the individual cast members the spot light and by the end of the series you'll have developed a pretty solid understanding of who most of them are as people.

On the story front, however; Gokusen is a lot less interesting. Most of the story arcs follow a repetitive formula, and it's often very predictable. The repetition didn't become much of an issue for me until the last third or so of the series; where by that point my interest in the plot was starting to wane. Thankfully the final act picked up the pace and ended the story on a fairly satisfying note.

As an aside; later on in the series they introduce these short spin-off stories involving Kumiko's pet dog, Fuji; who is now able to talk. He and Shin go on quirky escapades together where Shin plays the straight man. I personally skipped all of these chapters after the first couple completely failed to crack even a smile on my face. Thankfully there are very few of these chapters, and they have zero impact on the plot. So if you too find Fuji's antics grating, feel free to skip all of these chapters.

On another note; the art in Gokusen will likely be most people's least favourite element of the manga. I personally find that the art style has a certain charm to it ( I've heard some call it ugly... I can see it), though admittedly it doesn't really do much for the material. While it's certainly consistent, it lacks energy and has a tendency of underselling the comedic reactions and fight scenes. For a slice-of-life comedy though, it's serviceable.

If you're a sucker for light-hearted stories about society's outcasts, as well as delinquents/ gangsters with hearts of gold, you'll find something to like in Gokusen. The characters are a bit of fun to read about and the series maintains a consistent level of quality from start to finish.

All-in-all, I give Gokusen a solid 6 to a light 7 and would comfortably recommend the series if you're looking for a light hearted gangster-filled romp.

Gokusen wasn't exactly the style of manga that I typically go for, but in this case, I am glad I made an exception. The thing that did it for me, that made me keep going despite my hesitation, was the subtle complexity of both the art and the story-telling.

The artwork and writing style was strong and seemed to eschew stereotypes. Instead of falling into the typical manga cliches, it somewhat redefined them. The characters where each multifaceted and interesting in their own ways and they had depth, in a way that wasn't thrown around like a gimmick either. In fact, I felt that the mangaka had a lot of fun with nuance. Overall, it was intelligently written and drawn.

As for the content, it was better than average, which is great to me. Average is just so... typical. This manga was downright hilarious at times and had plenty of little bits in there to make the fangirls swoon, yet it never seemed to fall into that this-is-how-mangas-are-supposed-to-go trap. It isn't a shoujo, but it isn't just a shounen either.

What I considered to be its biggest downfall seemed to also be an asset. It stuck to a pretty episodic pattern. Normally, I would find that to be bothersome... but in this case, it was obvious that the stories weren't the point but rather just a vessel for the characters. The characters were what mattered, so the plot was underplayed and sometimes underdeveloped.

The romance was also a bit underplayed as well, though in a surprisingly pleasant way. You saw the real connection between the two love interests, but there weren't all of those classic manga tropes. It was a more realistic and honest representation of affection.

Now, the reason why this isn't one of my favorites is, well, a bit embarrassing. I missed all of the silly gimmicky things that make a manga a manga. I missed the stupidly pretty boys and overly simple arch types; the inane things that most readers take for granted in a manga. Which is why, while I wholly appreciate this manga for what it was, I wasn't completely taken with it. It's inability to take itself seriously, while charming and unique, also prevented me from taking it seriously as a reader.

Gokusen: A manga that I just can't help but go back to and read over and over again. I dont know why I love it so freaking much. I mean its my favourite manga despite the Mediocre art and the weird style its drawn in. Im still trying to figure out how I, being a giant shoujo fan, Favourite manga is A Josei. Dont get me wrong I like Josei manga to I just dont read it as much which is why Im baffled! What I DO know though is that any person who loves a light hearted story with tons of comedy would love this. Throw in a little bit of romance, some awesome fighting skills/scenes, the Yakuza, A school for Delinquent dropouts and A math teacher and you get Gokusen. Thats right The Yakuza and a Math Teacher!

Story 8/10

It starts off fairly simple. We meet Yamaguchi Kumiko, the grandaughter to one of the biggest and toughest Yakuza gangs in Tokyo; The Kuroda Family. They're feared and respected in the Yakuza world. Yet the next heir is a woman! And what exactly is her occupation? A rookie math teacher fresh outta University! And where does she choose to work at? Well at Shirokin Gakuen Senior High, a school for delinquent dropouts who have no where else to go. Follow her adventures as she befriends and earns the respect of her rowdy 2nd year class and kicks ass while doing it! But who finds out her secret right at the beginning of her career? Sawada Shin the smartest guy in the class... No wait make that the whole grade... Or even the whole school... So as you can see "Yankumi", as she is dubbed by her students, is in a little bit of trouble. But this manga does not focus on one plot! We get to learn about some of her students pasts, about her Yakuza family and life, about the hilarious situations she and her class end up in, about her love life which is not going so well and as we do Gokusens comedy will surely make you chuckle throughout the ride!

Art 5/10

Now this would have to be Gokusens weak point. The drawings are fairly simple with basic backrounds and easily drawn faces. Some people would probably think the art is very crude and well... Ugly compared to their fluffy shoujo art. Once again dont get me wrong Im a sucka for fluffy, Cute and Beautiful shoujo art and I nearly didnt read Gokusen because of its simple art style. Yet I gave it a chance and Im so thankful I did. If you dont want to miss out on an awesome manga just give it a go! Also you might be happy to hear that the art does improve throughout the manga. The Mangaka obviously got better at drawing and the art changed a little which is common in long mangas.

Characters 8/10

The cast for Gokusen is quite large so we dont get to find out the history of every character. But the ones we do of are done quite well! Also mangas with large casts are infamous for not developing characters well but thats not true for Gokusen! Each character has a distinct personality and usually an arc or two where they play main roles. The main the characters: Yamaguchi Kumiko and Sawada Shin are developed quite nicely and you can see them grow as the manga progresses. Yankumi is not afraid to fight for what she thinks is right and she hates an uneven battle filed. She protects her students and grows wonderful Teacher-Student bonds with them! Shes an easily likable character that can be a little dense and she can rush into things but thats why Sawadas there to help her! He could be the exact opposite from her. Calm, cool and collected, we rarely see him freak out and if It wasn't for him helping Yankumi all her plans would probably fail... So 2 strong protagonists who are interesting and hilarious!

Enjoyment 10/10

As you can tell from my mostly positive review I absolutely LOVE Gokusen and its humour, Great story with nice plot elements, Unique characters and overall awesomeness make it a highly enjoyable manga. In fact Im pretty sure I red all 15 volumes in 1 day... Aka one sitting so that must of been hours worth of time dedicated to sitting down and reading it! I just could not put it down it was addicting becuase it was just so much FUN to read! The extra bonus chapters are a blast and I definitely recommend reading them to!

Overall 9/10

Overall if your looking for a Light read with some good humour and a great set of characters this is a must read! I'd give it a perfect 10 but because of the mediocre art Im going to have to concede and give it a 9. Still I recommend that you give it a go if your contemplating whether you wanna read it or not because of the art style cause if you do read it you wont be disappointed!

Gokusen, it's one of the few manga that doesn't completely revolve around a love story that I've liked.

It's the story of a high school teacher whose family is from the Yakuza, but she has a dream of her own to become the best teacher for her students, regardless of her background and outstanding fighting skills. She has this strong bond with her students that is really admirable, and her love story with Shin is the cutest of all. The way they ended up is amazingly cute!

After watching the anime, I hurriedly got myself a copy of its manga so I can try the first chapter and to see whether I will like it enough to continue. And as you can see, I finished all 15 Volumes in just a week (considering of having a very bad dose of Yuri on Ice hangover, *wink). I don’t normally read its manga counterpart after finishing the anime and I usually wait for a month or even a year depending of my mood. But for this case, I think it was because it was so funny even after watching the anime. Every chapter had me laughing my head off that I decided to read all the volumes.

The story was really good. I love that it was different than the others that I have read before plus it’s so Japan because of the Yakuza thing and it also drops some cool thing about Japan like the festivals and their culture.

The idea of a Yakuza heiress teaching in an all-boys school which is also known as a school for delinquents is very unique. All the possible questions that you can encounter while reading this story we’re all addressed perfectly in this manga. And not just that, I also love the fact that it also features the story of each side characters so we really got to know more about them. And dropping all those lessons while making you laugh at the same time was epic!

The lines were so good, the scenes we’re properly executed and they can be funny and emotional when the author intends it to be. What I mean is that this manga was done so flawlessly. No dull moments. I actually laughed hard a lot of time reading this manga, I think I laughed on every chapters, or was that even every pages? Hehe. There’s quite a lot of characters and knowing me, I didn’t remember their name haha, I’m really bad with names lol. But even if that was the case, I can really say that I know each of them. I understand what they are going through since they all got the chance to share their story, but I just really can’t seem to remember their names except Shin and Yankumi hehe (and Shinohara too, haha).

The main character Kumiko is really a badass. Well, what can you expect from a Yakuza heiress eh? But aside from physical strength, she also has a good heart. She lost her parents at a young age so she was taken in by her grandpa which is the 3rd generation leader of the Kuroda clan (also referred to as the Ooedo Clan). She grew up with guys so it was really not a surprise that she grew up as a pretty good fighter. She may not look like it but she’s really strong. I love that even with her family background, she decided to pursue her dreams and my, I’m sure so happy for her. Yes, her students were kind of hardheaded but you can really see that they are kind-hearted too. I love how she supports them and give them the lesson that they need to learn. I also love the fact that because she’s true to herself she was able to win over the hearts of those people around her even those that was against her from the start. My! This girl is definitely my hero. Aside from that, she’s very funny and dense at the same time too, haha. But even if that was the case, there’s still this one particular student that has his eyes only for her, ayeii!

Gokusen also had some pretty good group of characters that I really love reading about. There’s no unnecessary characters here, all of them has a role to play and did them well. I actually don’t have any complaints about that. I love the story, I love the characters, I love the settings, I just love everything. And speaking of love, I love Shin here. He really looks hot! Now I can clearly see why the title “The Young Red Lion Master” suits him so well. Plus, those extra chapters were really funny, haha.

Aside from the lessons this manga gives, it also warms my heart because it also highlights family love. You see, this manga explains to us that just because they’re a Yakuza it doesn’t mean they’re bad entirely. That they also have some good sides too. You really should know someone first before judging them.

But even with all those nice words, why I am giving this manga 9 rating? Well, you see, I think there should have been more. The confession was made (finally!) so I really want to see what will happen after this particular student finally graduated and become a lawyer. So yep, that’s my only reason, haha.

The Kuroda family is one of the most powerful Yakuza families in all of Japan; the name Kuroda strikes fear in the hearts of all gangsters that do not have a bond with the family.

Yeah, man, don't mess wit dem.

Now that the 3rd head of the family is getting old, who will inherit this terrible and respectable family?

A woman.

Random audience: HUH?!

Not only that but a TEACHER.

Random audience: NoooOOOoooOOO!

Meet Yamaguchi, Kumiko or 'Yankumi' (Yam+Kumi= Yankumi {I have no idea where that 'n' came from but it's there}) and...

Hold up.

What's up with that lame nickname; maybe yankee but YANKUMI?
Creativity: thumbs down.
Maybe it's a play on words of Yankee with an 'i'..?

So Miss. (because she's single) Yamaguchi, fresh out of university, decides to work in a delinquent school, Shirokin High (Were there no high-schools left?).

So we follow Miss. Yamaguchi, the math teacher (can you get any lamer?) as she gains her students respect, friendship and we also get to know about her family and how she handles her class when they get too wild.

Generously slathered with comedy, this Manga had me cracking up (which astonished even myself) making it a lighthearted read (well, it was lighthearted in my book). It explored the idea of having, well... A Yakuza family. Though it is fiction and it's been PG-ed; I liked that the writer tried to push some boundaries and show that by the end of the day, their still human and so are we.

Then again, making a bunch of blood-thirsty yakuza appear funny and like your protective uncle, isn't exactly saying 'no to violence and bullying'. You know what I mean?

The art was simple.

Meaning the extreme lack of details HOWEVER it was proportionate and *CHEERS* no retarded eyes in this Manga.

Random audience: YEEEES!! *Air-punches, cheering, whistling, clapping, tears of joy*

Amazingly, (what was left of) the quality got slightly worse. Still, the art did have its charm but it could definitely improve.

A possible rival of Cromartie High School (a must-read), the plot is sarcastic and funny. As you get familiar with the characters, you'll start liking this Manga more and more.

Yes, folks, I recommend this Manga.

*But remember to read 'Cromartie High School'; it's definitely worth the time*

The story has no direction. It's that simple, but it's compensated by it's refreshing and vast variety of characters.
The teacher doesn't really have a goal, so neither does the story in my opinion. But the story does have short arcs where we can see her getting closer to her class, and by the end she's practically their second mom. Yay!
This is not to say the story wasn't hilarious at points and that it thoroughly entertained me as we can see through 159 chapters development in all the characters.
Don't expect too much from the romance tag in the bottom although there is a sweet, if very funny confession in the story.
I would recommend this manga as it is very funny, just take note of it's lack of direction
Hopefully you found this useful

This is one of my favorite series. Doesn't matter whether it's the manga, television show, or the anime, I adore this series because it's about a teacher who knows how to handle herself. She doesn't need a man to help her since she was raised by a man who taught her to be self-reliant; something quite a few people in anime and manga seem to be lacking.

The main characters in this series play off one another extremely well. Yankumi seems to meld into any role she's presented with. As an educator myself, I admire her attitude toward her students. All any of them needed was someone to bat for them, which is a common issue in many countries. Sadly, not all of those in real life are given a teacher like Yankumi to help them succeed.

The series may (or may not) give a romanticized version of the yakuza. As someone who has not been involved with organized crime, I can't say for sure, but I'd keep from using this show as a reliable source for the mafia; one can dream though. Yakuza stories seem to be rather popular in pop culture. They are entertaining, to say the least, but one can hope to never run into what it's like on the inside.

One thing that did stick out was Fujiyama's addiction to teenage boys (not to mention this is the same woman who voices Satoshi in hundreds of Pokemon episodes). This kind of made me laugh, save for the part where it's illegal in my home country to hook up with someone under 18. I had to think in a different mind not to find it a little odd. Luckily I can view something without going all sorts of ballistic. One of my friends gave me a lecture about enjoying this show for this very reason. So, for anyone not able to deal with the fact that Japan does have a different culture, I'd not recommend this show. However, if the mind is open, this show is fun on all levels.

I finished this entire thing in thirteen days which is super rare for me considering how long it takes for me to finish longer manga. I honestly didnt know I would like it this much in the beginning but i slowly realized how much I did. The story is basically super funny with a uniqueness to it that I've never read before. We've all heard of yakuza mangas but this one was just executed so well. Even though the basic plotlines are a bit similar, it doesn't get old and manages to keep you reading until you get tired or until it's finished. The art was not the best I've seen but it isn't bad either. It IS a comedy so it makes sense that the art isn't super detailed. It fits well with the yakuza theme too. The characters are probably one of the best parts of this whole thing because there are so many yet very few are dislikable despite being flat characters. What I mean is that some don't stand out as much, which is expected, but they still fit well in the story and it all works out. The main character is obviously the best and throughout I just loved how she managed to do everything herself without much help. I dont know why but I really like characters in manga that are op af. There is a lot of character development which is good to see as well. My enjoyment for this is obviously a 10 because of how the content and characters never got old even after so many chapters. There was always something making me laugh and cheer inside for the main character.
Overall, although my ship didn't work out, I love this manga and will definitely reread it sometime later.
One more thing, in the extra chapters after the ending it felt like the romance was rushed and the characters suddenly became all lovey. Not really into that but I mean it's still worth the 10/10 overall.